Welcome to Roses & Thorns. All books receive honest reviews, regardless of our sources. We are no longer accepting submissions. While the blog will remain live, I cannot continue reviewing books. My own writing is suffering from keeping up with two blogs. I will post my last review on May 29, 2017. Thank you Rose and Donna for your help, authors for the (mostly) great reading, and readers for following us.

Roses & Thorns

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Jenny
returns to her grandparents’ art camp in a remote New Mexico town after her
grandmother’s sudden death. That night, staying alone in the empty house, she
wakes to the noise of intruders. What do the strangers want? As more bizarre
events unfold, Jenny starts to realize the people she thought she knew are not
what they seem—least of all Rob, an old friend and the camp cook, whose past
may be coming back to haunt them all.

Review:

Counterfeits actually kept me guessing! Anyone who
reads my reviews regularly knows how rarely that happens. I had theories and was on the right track,
but I wasn’t quite there, and I was surprised when certain facts were
revealed. I love when a writer manages
to do that to me. Grab Counterfeits and keep trying to
guess. Be surprised like I was.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Straight-laced literary
agent Portia Hart is hiding out in Liberty Heights from a crazed writer. She’s
sprained her ankle, minus her eyeglasses and can’t see a thing. Newly widowed
Truman Wilder is home after a mystery surrounding his wife’s death. The last
thing he needs is Portia, but this is Liberty Heights, where lunacy and romance
abound. Portia’s stuck at LouAnn Freedbush’s bed and breakfast. Sister BettyAnn
is hysterical due to her eviction from Registered Witches of America. Uncle
Rupert Freedbush is big game hunting in the backyard. Why? Because Uncle Rupert
insists he’s Ernest Hemingway.

The Valentine clan
snatched the property Truman needs for his optometry business. They want to
open a florist shop. The Valentines are experts thanks to attending loads of
funerals only nobody knows where the bodies are buried. This is New Jersey,
after all.

Portia isn’t sure how it
happened but Elmo, an Alaskan Malamute, has been left in her custody. Elmo’s
diet consists of her shoes. What does Wayne, the psychic beagle say about this?
How did everyone end up at 1920s Parisian Lost Generation party? Will Elmo eat
the town out of footwear?

Men definitely make
passes at gals who wear glasses or are nearly blind without them. Romance rules
in Wait Watchers!

Review:

Once again, I am bereft.
I read too fast, so my visit to Liberty Heights sped by all too quickly.
Warning: Do NOT read Wait Watchers in
the vicinity of sleeping babies—you WILL laugh out loud at the antics of the Freedbushes,
Valentines, Elmo, et. al.

Poor Portia thinks she’s
trapped in some sort of loony bin, but she’s just staying at the Valentine’s
Day Massacre Bed and Breakfast. She can’t help it her timing coincides with BettyAnn
discovering her witch school was not accredited, or the closing of Uncle Rupert’s
nursing home. At least he thinks she’s Zelda Fitzgerald and doesn’t ask her to
perform interpretive dances like he does Susie Wittiger, whom he believes is
Isadora Duncan. Although she does have to fend off his pinches when “Scott’s”
not around. And even though he eats her shoes, Elmo’s an affectionate puppy.
She’s just keeping him until Truman Wilder and his daughter, Rosie, get their
own place. How can she turn Rosie down when she and Elmo are Rosie’s only
friends?

If you’ve followed this
blog, you don’t need me to tell you how funny, warm, and wonderful these books
are. If you’re a new reader, then by all means—check out Wait Watchers or any of the Liberty Heights series by Elle Druskin.
You’ll figure out why we’ve kept New Jersey (aside from Edison, Sinatra, Springstein,
and Bon Jovi).

You’ll notice we always
include the publisher’s buy link.That’s
because authors usually receive 40% of the book price from the publisher.Editors and cover artists usually receive
about 5%.When you buy a book from
Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut
and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is
left.So, if a book costs $5.99 at
E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about
$2.40.If you buy the book at Amazon,
the author will receive about $0.83.

Downloading the file
from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file from your
computer to a USB flash drive. Plug the larger USB end of your chord into a USB
port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to
your Kindle/Documents/Books directory. You can download your books onto your
computer using “Save As” to a “Books” file you create and sort them into
sub-folders by genre, author, or however you wish before transferring them to
your Kindle. That way, if there’s a glitch with your Kindle, the books are on
your computer. Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her
royalty statement.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

The summer Berie was
fifteen, she and her best friend Sils had jobs at Storyland in upstate New
York, where Berie sold tickets to see the beautiful Sils portray Cinderella in
a strapless evening gown. They spent their breaks smoking, joking, and
gossiping. After work they followed their own reckless rules, teasing the fun
out of small town life, sleeping in the family station wagon, and drinking
borrowed liquor from old mayonnaise jars. But no matter how wild, they always
managed to escape any real danger until the adoring Berie sees that Sils really
does need her help and then everything changes.

Review:

This novel, Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? by
Lorrie Moore, is a multi-faceted account of a girl’s journey from adolescence
to womanhood, physically and psychologically. It is written in first person,
and primarily set in a small town in upstate New York. The main character is
immersed in the current of challenges and insecurities that precede the onset
of adulthood. She took me through a myriad of emotions that stirred my heart
and touched my soul. Rarely have I read such an endearing book with a comfort
quality and an ability to define its theme so clearly. It is a reality check on
life in many ways; a look at what we cherish and how we protect it. Thisis a great read for women, who will
closely identify with the throes of the girlie teen years; men will not likely
appreciate it as much. However, I do believe it could contribute a lot of
valuable insight to any father who has a daughter in the years of
pre-adolescence to early twenties…those changing chic chapters!

You’ll notice I always
include the publisher’s buy link. That’s because authors usually receive 40% of
the book price from the publisher. Editors and cover artists usually receive
about 5%. When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another
third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists
receive their cuts from what is left. So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book
Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40. If
you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $0.83.

Downloading
the file from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file
from your computer to a USB flash drive. Plug the USB end of your chord into a
USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to
your Kindle/Documents/Books directory. I actually download my books using “Save
As” to a “Books” file I created on my computer that’s sorted by my publisher,
friends, and books “to review,” and then transfer them to my Kindle from there.
That way, if there’s a glitch with my Kindle, the books are on my computer. Your
author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Anne's relationship with her boyfriend
Neil has disintegrated. After a two-year separation, they pack for a week
vacation in hopes of reconciling. But fate has other plans for them.

The discovery of a bejeweled cross and
ancient human bones opens a door to a new and frightening world

--one where the
ghost of a medieval nun named Genevieve will not let Anne rest. This new world
threatens not only to ruin Anne and Neil's vacation but to end all hopes of
reconciliation as Anne feels compelled to help free Genevieve's soul from its
torment.

Can Anne save her relationship and
help Genevieve find her eternal rest?

The twists and turns in this
paranormal tale keep the reader guessing up to the end and weave themselves
together into a quest to rekindle love.

Review:

Shadows of the Past was a pleasant read.It was a nice escape, but I’m afraid I found
the plot fairly obvious.I still wanted
to read it to find out how Anne would discover what she needed to know in order
to help Genevieve finally rest, but I pretty much had it figured out from the
beginning.Maybe that’s because I’m a
writer and that’s how I would have written it.Maybe it really will keep you guessing.I did enjoy the book.

You’ll
notice we always include the publisher’s buy link.That’s because authors usually receive 40% of
the book price from the publisher.Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%.When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes &
Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author,
editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left.So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book
Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40.If you buy the book at Amazon, the author
will receive about $0.83.

Downloading
the file from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file
from your computer to a USB flash drive. Plug the larger USB end of your chord
into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads”
box to your Kindle/Documents/Books directory. You can download your books onto
your computer using “Save As” to a “Books” file you create and sort them into
sub-folders by genre, author, or however you wish before transferring them to
your Kindle. That way, if there’s a glitch with your Kindle, the books are on
your computer. Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her
royalty statement.